Billing meters (TenaBill)
Define the metered usage dimensions your subscriptions bill against — API calls, seats, storage, or any other unit you charge for beyond a flat subscription price.
Console: TenaBill merchant console → Billing → Meters (/billing/meters)
A meter is a reusable definition. Once created, attach it to an offering's pricing so usage recorded against that meter shows up on customer invoices.
Creating a meter
Click + New meter to open the creation form.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Key | The machine identifier used when recording usage events, e.g. api_calls. Lowercase letters, digits, and underscores only, 2–50 characters. Cannot be changed after creation. |
| Display name | The human-readable name shown throughout the console and on invoices, e.g. "API Calls". |
| Unit | The label for one unit of usage, e.g. call, seat, GB, request. |
| Aggregation | How usage is combined over a billing period: Sum (total usage), Max (peak value seen), or Last value (snapshot at period end). |
| Price per unit (cents) | Price charged per unit beyond any free tier, in cents. 0 means usage is included in the plan price rather than billed separately. |
| Free tier units | Units included free per billing period before overage pricing applies. |
| Currency | Three-letter currency code, e.g. usd. |
| Billable | When off, usage against this meter is tracked for analytics and quota checks only and never generates a charge. |
Click Create meter to save.
Meters table
Lists every meter you've created, with its key, unit, aggregation, price, free tier, billable status, and active/inactive state.
Deactivating a meter
Click Deactivate on an active meter's row. Offerings using that meter stop recording new billable usage until you reactivate it. Deactivation does not delete historical usage records or past invoice line items.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | What to check |
|---|---|
| "Create meter" is disabled or rejects the key | Keys must be 2–50 characters, lowercase letters/digits/underscores only, and unique across your account |
| Usage isn't appearing on an invoice | Confirm the meter is attached to the relevant offering's pricing, and that Billable is checked — non-billable meters never generate charges |
| Can't edit a meter's key or aggregation after creation | These are fixed at creation time; create a new meter instead if you need a different key or aggregation method |
| Meter list fails to load | Use the Retry button on the error banner; if it persists, check your connection and try again shortly |
Related
- Catalog — attach a meter to an offering's pricing
- Usage dashboard — how customers see their metered consumption